When The Tables Turn
by YouLookLikeFOOD
Summary: In a world of heroes, two children are born. Eric and Rose didn't ask for the fame, or the hatred, that came with being human.  And, while Eric believes he's unique, Rose begins to take the crowd's view; that she's nothing but a freak.
1. School

It was the question they'd been dreading. The question they knew would come, because it had so many other times.

"I'll just need to know… what are their abilities?"

The principal, Lauren Tanna, was still smiling as she looked at them.

Tom and Sara exchanged wary looks. There was silence for a moment.

"That's the thing." Tom said at last. "They don't have abilities."

But Lauren kept smiling. "Oh, haven't seen an eclipse yet, eh?" She nodded understandingly. "A lot of the students haven't. Most are born with their abilities, of course, but many others…" She trailed off and shrugged. "I'll just need to know what they are when they find out."

Sara bit her lip. Tom placed a comforting hand on hers.

"That's the problem." Tom said.

"We decided to get the blood tests." Sara's words were quiet, and she was studying her shoes. "We wanted know what we were dealing with, ability-wise. And… And…" She trailed off, her eyes closing.

"They're human." The words seemed difficult even for Tom.

Lauren's eyes widened. They flickered to the two children in the corner of the room.

Rose and Eric were trying to stack the blocks they'd been given. Eric didn't seem to care much about it, but Rose was stacking them with purpose, designing them exactly, while Eric seemed content to just hand them to her.

They were so small.

So dangerous.

"I can't…" The words came out of Lauren's mouth before she could think. It was impossible that there would still be humans out there... they were extinct!

"Please." Sara begged. Her eyes were swimming with tears. "Please, they're brilliant children. They do what they're told, they don't argue…" She looked at Lauren. "You're our last hope."

Tom's features were set in a stony glare as he looked at Lauren, as though he was daring her to contradict his wife.

Lauren looked back at the children. Rose was now staring directly at her. Her bright, blue eyes seemed to pierce through Lauren, as though she could see straight through her.

Lauren held the child's gaze, as though staring down this five-year-old would prove, once and for all, that heroes were stronger than humans had ever believed.

But Rose didn't back down. Her head was held high.

Finally, Lauren turned back to her parents. "Very well. But we'll have to inform the teachers." She paused. "They won't like it."

Sara's eyes lit up. "You mean… they can go?"

Lauren nodded. "I don't have much of a choice. But yes, they may attend this school."

Sara let out a huge sigh of relief, wrapping her arms around Tom.

His features remained hard, but he hugged her back.

Lauren looked once more to the twins in the corner.

This wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

"WHAT?"

John Black was the first to react to the news.

Lauren nodded and repeated regretfully, "They're human."

"Impossible!" Dorothy cut in. "The human gene died out long ago!"

"Apparently not. Perhaps it still exists."

An uneasy silence covered the room.

"Are you saying that… _more _children could become… _human?_" Jackie's voice rose to an ear-splitting squeak on the last word.

Lauren nodded slowly. "It certainly seems possible."

"No!" Dorothy intervened again, shaking her head fiercely. "The human gene is _gone. _It can not come back!"

"Then how do you explain the two human _children _that we're meant to teach?" Lauren demanded.

"Teach?" John demanded. "You still expect us to _teach _these _monstrosities?_"

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" Kayla shouted, rolling her eyes. "They're _children, _John. They may be human, but they're hardly likely to kill you in your sleep."

"We can not just allow them to come into our school! It would be endangering the other children!"

"Why?" Kayla demanded. "Their lack of abilities? Many children don't have them yet."

"They're _human!_" John retorted.

Kayla snorted. "Oh, yes. That's a wonderfully sane argument, John!" She bit out the words sarcastically. "What would you have us do? Kill them?"

Silence filled the room for a moment.

"We could at least notify the police." John said at last.

"The police!" Kayla threw up her hands in exasperation. "They aren't criminals, John! They're just children. They may be human, but they're only five years old!"

"Children _grow up._" John insisted.

She glowered at him, but before she could speak, Lauren shouted, "Enough!"

All eyes turned to her.

"The decision has been made. We're teaching these children. End of discussion."

* * *

Rose bounced into the school, her smile bright as she sat down on the floor, looking up expectantly at the teacher. Eric sat shyly down next to her.

Rose was talking to everyone. "Hi, I'm Rose, what's your name?"

"I'm Lana." One little girl, clearly as energetic as Rose herself, said brightly.

"Wanna be friends?"

Eric, forever the more observant of the twins, was watching the teacher. He was a tall man, with thick brown hair and dark brown eyes. He had been watching the two children warily, and now looked absolutely horrified as the word 'friends' came from Rose's lips.

"Class!" He intervened hurriedly. "I think it's time to begin our lesson!"

Eric looked at him, puzzled. He wasn't exactly good at telling time, but he was sure that he hadn't gotten here this late…

But the teacher's eyes were locked on him, as though daring him to say something against him. Eric shrunk inwards on himself, working to appear invisible from those dark brown eyes.

He smiled at the other children, but Eric saw how he avoided his gaze. It must have been his imagination, though, because he seemed friendly enough.

"My name is Mr. Black." He said cheerfully. His eyes crossed the room again. "Now, I'd first like everyone to introduce themselves. I want you to tell the class your name, age, and if you have your ability yet. Those that do, I'd like you to come to the front of the class for me, all right?"

Everyone nodded eagerly, and the children slowly stood up, one at a time, saying their names and age. Many didn't have abilities, but the few who did announced them proudly before moving to the front of the classroom.

When Rose's turn came, she stood up proudly. "I'm Rose, and I'm five years old."

She looked at Eric, waiting for him to stand with her. It was always that way; they did everything together, they were never separate, no matter how small the matter was.

But Mr. Black was glaring at them. Eric wondered what he had done wrong. He shrunk even further in on himself, then looked at his sister and shook his head. He didn't know why, but he didn't want to stand up. He didn't want to say his name. He didn't want to draw any more attention to himself than was necessary.

Rose looked at him, understanding forming on her face. She leaned over and gripped his hand, pulling him into a standing position against his will.

"And this is Eric!" She announced proudly. "He's my twin brother."

Eric stood, petrified, before Mr. Black's dark stare.

"Yes, that's wonderful." He had a way of twisting the words, as though that wasn't what he really meant. "But maybe you should let him introduce himself next time, hmm?"

Eric sat down as hurriedly as he could, but Rose was unfazed. She sat down next to him, still smiling.

Once everyone was finished, Mr. Black had every child with abilities show them what they were. One of them froze the table. Another picked up aforementioned table with one hand. Still another crawled on the wall until he was upside-down on the ceiling.

Finally, Mr. Black was standing in front of them, his smile wide.

He held up a hand, and fire began to dance across it. Everyone's wide eyes were staring at it.

Eric watched in fascination. Immediately, he knew what he wanted his ability to be.

"It's called Pyrokenisis." Mr. Black said with a smile. "Flame control."

Eric's eyes were locked on the flames, so intent on watching them that he no longer noticed Mr. Black's harsh glare.

But Mr. Black noticed him. And the moment he did, the flames died.

Eric saw his teacher's face at last. He quickly looked away, unsure why he was doing so.

Slowly, unnoticed by either twin, a smile crossed over Mr. Black's face.

"Now, before we start anything today…" He said slowly. "I'd like to know what you know. Anything you know about… the wars." The words were very dramatic, as was often a good idea with children. It kept their interest, after all.

One child's hand instantly shot up.

He smiled at him and nodded. "Go ahead, Jack."

Jack opened his mouth and launched into his explanation. "My parents told me that the wars were because of the humans. That that's who we were fighting against. Hero and humans." He smiled genuinely.

Mr. Black nodded again. "Very good, very good. Adriana, what about you?"

The little girl blushed, but spoke. "My daddy said that the humans were nice to the heroes at first, but that they lied to them and started to hurt them. They were mean." Her words were very serious.

He nodded approvingly. "Exactly. You see, humans were once the only people on this planet."

Eyes widened, staring at him, giving him their absolute attention.

"And then, heroes showed up. No one knew why. And for a long time, they were secret. They didn't tell the humans that they were there.

But, after a while, there were too many heroes to hide. Humans found out. At first, they _were _nice, but it was all a lie."

Rose's hand shot up.

Mr. Black seemed to ignore her. "They were _not _nice. They were very mean people, who hurt heroes, who hurt them for _fun._"

Rose waved her hand in the air energetically.

But the teacher seemed to be speaking only to the children who were listening to his story with horrified expressions. "Eventually, a fight broke out. A huge war that we won. Now, there are no more humans." His eyes seemed to drift to Rose and Eric. "And there won't be, ever again."

A few of them cheered, but Rose kept her hand in the air.

Mr. Black turned to her and, with a heavy sigh, acknowledged her presence. "What is it, Rose?"

Rose didn't hesitate. "My daddy says that not all of the humans were bad guys. He said that some of them were nice."

Mr. Black's features twisted into what could only be called a sneer. "Really. I wonder why he said that."

Rose pressed on. "He said that not all of them wanted the war. There were bad guys, yeah, but there were some good guys, too. Daddy said that some of them were probably good enough to be heroes."

Mr. Black stared at her in outrage. "Good enough to be heroes? Rose, enough! These are lies, do you understand? Humans could never…"

But Rose didn't let him finish. "He said that some humans were good, just like some heroes are bad. Heroes like Sylar."

The teacher got to his feet. "I SAID ENOUGH!" He roared. Fire danced in his eyes.

Rose looked at him in fear. Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks; it was very rare that anyone yelled at her, and even then it was only her parents, not someone she'd never met.

Eric was on his feet faster than his teacher had been. "Don't talk to my sister like that! Don't you _dare_!" His earlier fear had all but disappeared. Rose was his twin; her pain was his pain.

"Are you _yelling _at me?" Mr. Black asked dangerously.

Mr. Black's eyes smoldered as the two stared at each other. The tables had turned for the twins; now Rose was the one hiding behind Eric. It was a position she took gratefully.

No one said a word. The other children were absolutely silent as they stared, horrified and excited.

"You don't get to talk to Rose like that." Eric replied. "You don't get to be mad at her. She didn't do anything to you."

Mr. Black looked as though he would protest, but instead pointed out the door. "Go to the principal's office. Both of you. Now."

Eric's eyes narrowed. He said nothing further as he gently led his sister out of the room, glaring daggers at his teacher as he did so.

Once outside, Rose burst into tears. Eric wrapped his arms around her, allowing her to cry into his shoulder.

"I… don't… know why… he was…so mad!" Rose blubbered.

"He's a meanie-head." Eric replied simply.

He waited until Rose's eyes were dry before starting the trip to the principal's office.

Eric figured that the hallways were made to look dark and scary on purpose. They were so huge. He felt tiny, like a little speck on the wall. But he didn't care. He had to help Rose, and nothing that this school could do to him would prevent that.

He knocked on the door for Rose, who again went behind him. She was no longer crying, and Eric knew that some of her confidence must be coming back, but she was still not brave enough to face the principal. The principal's office was only for really bad people; she didn't want to be like that.

"Come in." They heard the voice from the other side of the door.

Eric did as told, and Rose followed.

The woman smiled at them, though Eric thought it looked fake. "Hello. What do you need?"

"We got kicked out of class." Eric said bravely, to which Rose nodded.

The principal's expression turned stern. Eric thought this looked much more natural. "Well, that's not good. Why did this happen?"

"Because he yelled at my sister." Eric continued. "And I yelled back."

"Well, why did he yell at her?" The principal asked, puzzled.

"Because we were talking about the wars." Rose spoke up at last, more at ease with her brother backing her up. "And I told him that not all humans were bad, just like not all heroes are bad, but not all are good. Like Sylar. And he got mad and told me I was lying." Eric nodded fiercely.

"And you yelled at him?" She questioned.

"He yelled first." Eric retorted.

"But you did yell at him?"

"Yes."

"You know you're not supposed to do that…"

"I don't care. He was yelling at my sister."

The principal's stern look became even more stony. "That's no excuse."

Eric couldn't understand it. He'd expected the principal to be mad at him _and _the teacher. With more emphasis on the teacher than him. He didn't reply to her accusation; instead, he glared at her.

"Now, I'm afraid I'll have to call your parents." She said harshly. "And tell them what you've done."

Rose cringed, but Eric remained defiant. His parents would know. They would believe him.

* * *

Tom was furious.

He marched to the school doors, despite the fact that his family was all at home, and he had no real business here.

He walked over to the classroom and knocked twice.

"Come in." A voice called back.

Tom wrenched the door open and went into the room.

John Black turned to face him. His features hardened. "Oh, it's you. What do _you _want?"

"What else?" He demanded. "What were you thinking? These are little _children, _for crying out loud! Hardly any of them even know about the hero-human war!"

"All the more reason to teach them." John sneered.

"Teach them? _Teach them? _You had no _intention _of _teaching _them. You and I both know it." He took a step towards him. "Don't you get it? My children _don't know _that they're human. They don't know a thing about it yet." His eyes hardened. "So if you _dare _try and pull that kind of a stunt again…"

He let the threat hang in the air for a moment, then whirled around and walked out the door.


	2. Eclipse

Rose wasn't quite as excited for fourth grade as she had been for kindergarten.

In fact, she dreaded school. The teachers hated her. Every single one of them.

Thankfully, the children took a completely different view.

Lana came up next to her, and the two immediately started talking. Eric, who still stayed with her no matter where she went, made himself shrink into the background. He knew when his opinions were wanted. He'd never had as many friends as Rose did; in fact, Rose was his _only _friend.

They all sat down next to each other, Eric moving his desk a little closer to his twin. When the bell finally rang, a woman with thick glasses and heavy lipstick went to the front of the class.

"Hello, everyone."

"Good morning, Ms. Seron." The class replied in unison.

Dorothy Seron smiled at them all. "Today is a very special day. Do any of you know why?"

A few nodded, their excitement tainting the air. Others stared at her, completely clueless. Rose was one of those that stared, but Eric was not. He'd been looking forward to this day for years.

Her smile widened. "I know quite a few of you don't have your abilities yet. Well, today will change that. There is going to be a complete solar eclipse. Everyone will be going outside to watch, and some to gain your abilities."

A few of them cheered. Rose looked at her twin, and he smiled back at her. Excitement penetrated through the air; it was infectious. Even those who already had their abilities were throwing around congratulations, smiling and laughing with their friends.

Dorothy Seron shot a nasty smile in Rose and Eric's direction. Eric's heart missed a beat; he didn't particularly like that look.

And so it happened. At one o'clock that afternoon, everyone went outside.

"Now, those with abilities may experience a brief moment without them." Ms. Seron explained. "Don't worry; it is only temporary. It will go away after the eclipse is over."

The eclipse was an amazing sight. Eric squinted, looking directly at it, knowing it would probably severely damage his eyes.

"I want to be a regenerist." His sister confided in him. "What about you?"

"Pyrokenist." He told her, not taking his eyes off of the darkness that began to cover the sun.

She gripped his hand tightly. "Here's hoping."

As the disk passed over the bright light, strange things began to happen. Children cheered as ice spread across the ground. One of their classmates had scars from an old accident that began to heal. Another lit on fire.

Jack, however, just looked down. He closed his eyes.

Rose looked at him worriedly. Everyone knew about Jack's father; he was a 'Sylar', a person who took abilities by killing someone. Thankfully, he was one of those that refused to kill, no matter how badly they wanted to. It was a decision that kept him alive. "He must have gotten the same ability as his father." Rose whispered, pointing towards Jack.

Indeed, the teachers were all coming over to him, reassuring him, helping him, stopping him from hurting others.

But Rose and Eric kept waiting. They stared at the eclipse.

"What are your abilities?" Lana asked.

"Dunno yet." Rose replied.

The disk began to move away from the sun once more. Light returned to the school, and everyone started to go back inside.

It was only when they had sat down again, and the teacher smiled nastily at them again, that Eric knew that something was wrong. He raised a wary hand.

"Yes?" The teacher called on him immediately; a very rare occurrence.

"We… I don't feel any different."

A strange silence passed over the class.

Ms. Seron smiled again, but tried to hide it. She looked at his twin. "What about you, Rose?"

She shook her head. "I don't feel different, either."

The smile would not be held back. "Well, now." She said. "I believe I have your explanation. You have no abilities. And you never will."

* * *

Rose felt sick as she walked into the house. She didn't even stay to talk to her parents. She just walked to her room.

They didn't try to stop her. Eric was about to go with her, but decided against it, instead turning to his parents.

"We're human, aren't we?"

Tom and Sara exchanged a look, somewhat surprised that he'd caught on this quickly. Even if they didn't have abilities, there must be a different explanation they could use, something that could explain it.

Sara shook her head at her husband, but he didn't listen.

Tom nodded towards his son.

Eric thought about this for a moment. "Well, all right, then." He shrugged, and followed his sister into her room.

Tom smiled, and Sara stared in shock.

Eric closed the door behind him. Rose was sitting on her bed, staring into space.

"It's not so bad." Eric said, sitting next to her. "If you think about it, we're kind of special."

"Special?" Rose demanded. "We're not _special. _We're freaks! We don't have our abilities, don't you get it? You're never going to be pyrokenetic. I'm never going to be a regenerist. We're never going to be different! We'll be just as bad as…" Her face paled. "_Humans._"

"But we _are _human…" Eric tried to say, but Rose cut him off.

"NO!" She shrieked. "I'm not human! I can't be human, I CAN'T!"

* * *

The next day was the worst of Rose's life.

Eric didn't seem to think that there was anything different from today and every other day. He just walked next to Rose, as though he hadn't just realized he was human.

Whispers followed them wherever they went. The story of two children without abilities had traveled quickly across the school.

"Lana!" Rose called, relieved to see that her friend was there.

Lana walked up to her cautiously. "H-Hi, Rose."

Rose looked at her, the smile fading from her features. "Lana, it's just me."

"I know that."

She sighed. "Look. Just because I don't have any abilities…"

"My mom says I can't be friends with you anymore." Lana blurted out, cutting Rose off. "She says you're human, and it's too dangerous."

Rose stared at Lana as though she'd been slapped. Her mouth gaped open.

Lana looked at her, on the verge of tears. "Are you human, Rose?"

Rose shook her head fiercely. "No! I'm not human! I'm _not!_"

Lana looked away. "My mom says you are."

She started walking in another direction, but her steps were hurried now, as though Rose would destroy her for saying a single bad thing to her.

Tears streaked down the human child's face. Eric placed an arm on his sister's shoulder. He'd seen the whole thing; he saw most of what happened in her life.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

Rose just kept crying.

Lana was not the only person who held this view, and by the end of the day, the scene had repeated itself many times. Some of her 'friends' had to come in groups, as though one burst of Rose's all-too-human rage would destroy them all. They would speak shakily; deathly afraid of the person they'd once called their friend.

Even Jack wouldn't come near them, even though it would help with his ability. He was having a hard time keeping himself from hurting the other students, a problem which could have been helped by being around the two people he'd never have a reason to kill.

Rose watched them all enviously. They didn't know what being so powerless was like…

* * *

"We cannot allow those creatures to attend this school!"

Many parents clapped and murmured their agreement. The teachers were smiling smugly at Tom and Sara.

The meeting was long overdue in the eyes of many of these parents. And every single one of them had come when it was called.

"My children are not creatures!" Tom snapped.

"They're human!" Someone else shouted. "They can't be trusted! You know what human nature is like! They're all liars and killers!"

More mutters and a few cheers responded to this.

Sara looked like she would cry, but Tom glared at all of the heroes. "What if your children had been born human?" He demanded. "WHAT THEN?"

For a moment, all was silent.

"Except you knew, didn't you?" John Black's voice was deathly quiet. "Before they were born. You knew that they were human. You didn't take the blood test, you couldn't wait that long. You could have destroyed them then."

Outrage sounded through the hall.

"THEY WERE MY CHILDREN!" Tom roared. "Unborn or not! Some people may actually have different morals from you, John! Some people would say that is wrong!"

"It's for the greater cause!" Another parent shouted.

"Greater cause? GREATER CAUSE?" Tom whirled to face her. "Tell me, what 'greater cause' are you talking about? When has either of my children hurt any one of yours? Answer me that!"

"It will happen eventually!" Another protested. "They're human! It's in their very genes to hate and kill! THEY'RE ALL MONSTERS!"

"They're children!" Sara spoke up at last. "They aren't mindless, brainless monsters!"

"Who says? Not history!" Another shouted her down. "Our very past tells us about the wars!"

"And there was never one good human?" Tom demanded. "_Never?_"

"How could there be?" Someone cried out.

"Well, let's see." Tom said through clenched teeth. "Aren't there bad _heroes _out there? The exception to the rule? Heroes like _Sylar?_"

For a moment, silence fell.

And then John spoke again. "Sylar was forced by his ability to kill, Tom! We all know that!"

"So he was naturally good, was he?" Tom asked.

"Perhaps he was. After all, he was very different before he became a hero. He just made a wrong choice."

"_A _wrong choice? _A wrong choice?_ He murdered countless times, killed, over and over and over again! How can you say that that's just '_a wrong choice', _while my children are monsters by their very nature?"

"BECAUSE THEY'RE HUMAN!" Someone protested. Shouting broke out, and Tom was left to defend his children against them all. Eventually, the statements grew more hostile.

_**ENOUGH!**_

Kayla's booming telepathic voice rang through their minds. They turned to face her.

She looked around at all of them. "I agree with Tom."

The words were whisper-soft, yet they carried across the room.

"And if you are too close-minded to see that a child is a child and nothing more than a _child," _she continued. "Then so help me, I will teach them myself. Until they reach high school age. Then I can do nothing more."

Tom nodded at her gratefully.

"This isn't just about the school!" One protested. "Those _things _should be destroyed, before they can hurt any of our children."

More cheers of agreement sounded out.

"Those creatures don't have the right to live! They never had the right to…"

"FINISH THAT STATEMENT AND I WILL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF!" Tom snapped, telekinetic energy wrapping around his hands as he advanced towards the hero. Kayla and Sara held him back.

_**I SAID ENOUGH!**_ Kayla's voice rang through their minds once more.

Silence fell again.

"Now. Rose and Eric can come to school tomorrow to pick up anything they've left here, and say goodbye to anyone who's still talking to them." Kayla's voice was clipped and professional as she worked out the details. "I'll meet them at your house, and we'll do their schoolwork there."

Tom nodded.

"Thank you." Sara said gratefully. "Thank you…"

Kayla nodded back, then turned to the others. "Does anyone have a problem with that?" She demanded, her tone indicating that she would accept no argument.

No one said a word.

"All right, then." Kayla nodded once, and, just like that, the meeting ended.

* * *

John wasn't particularly happy with how the meeting had ended.

Which was why he was here now, toying with the phone in his hands, trying to figure out how he was going to phrase his words.

Finally, he punched in the number.

"Andy? It's John."

"John! Hey, how are you?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." John waved off the question with an airy hand. "Listen, I think I have a story for you that might just take you to the top…"

* * *

"Rose! Eric! Over here!"

Rose shrunk behind her brother. He stood, tall and proud, refusing to look at the journalists who were following them. Cameras were pointed at them, zeroing in on their faces.

"When did you find out you were human?"

"How do you feel about not having abilities?"

"Do you really hate heroes?"

"Is it true you wanted to be a pyrokenist and a regenerist?"

"What did you feel when the eclipse had passed and you were left powerless?"

The twins disappeared into a classroom, but it was just as bad in there. Students and teacher alike were glowering at them.

Rose tried to disappear, but Eric still stood tall. He walked in front of her, being brave so that she didn't have to.

They picked up their books and pencils, then walked back to the door.

"Eric! Rose! What is it like, being human?"

"If you did have abilities, do you know what they would be?"

Eric closed the door behind him, journalists swarming around him and Rose.

"Rose!" One of them grabbed her arm. She cringed and tried to pull it away, but he held on tightly. "Answer our questions, please!"

"Get off her!" Eric protested. He pulled the hero's hand off of Rose's arm. There was a small burn mark where it had been, and tears were streaming down her face.

The heroes gasped and backed away hurriedly. Eric glowered at them.

"Just leave us alone!" He snapped. He walked with his sister to the drinking fountain, pouring cold water on the burn.

"There you have it." He heard one say. "It seems that humans really _do _have the anger issues we've all been told about. The question is, what happens when they get angry?"

Eric bit back a sharp retort, and slowly helped his sister to the next classroom. Tears rolled silently down her face.

"Eric!" Another journalist appeared in front of them. "Do you care to comment on your recent outburst?"

"If you had the chance, what would you have done to the man you were angry at?" He insisted as Eric walked around him.

He grabbed the back of Rose's shirt. "Answer me, human!"

Eric whirled around, fury blazing in his eyes. "Just leave her alone, get it?"

But now the journalists were swarming again. Rose was pushed aside; the human they wanted was the one with 'anger issues.' Rose collapsed to the ground, and was kicked in the head more than once as the heroes stampeded.

"BACK OFF!" Eric shouted. They did as told, suddenly seeming to realize that there was another human right beneath their feet. They hurriedly stumbled backwards.

Eric knelt down next to his sister. Rose was sobbing by this point, unable to mask it in any way.

"I just care!" Eric snapped at the journalists. "Any one of you would have done that for your sister! Any one of you!"

"'You'?" One of the braver ones asked. "So you're not denying that you think of yourself as different from the rest of us? Maybe even _better_ than us?"

Eric wasn't thrown. "You set the distinction. Not me. I don't think I'm better than anyone. Different? Maybe. Better? No."

He helped his sister to her feet, and the questions began again.


End file.
